When life feels too heavy to handle, it can be tempting to believe we need to pull ourselves together and figure everything out on our own. But Psalm 61 gives us a different path. Sarah Frazer reminds us that when we are overwhelmed, weary, or facing a storm beyond our ability to control, we can cry out to God and trust Him to be our refuge.

David’s prayer points us toward the “rock that is higher” than ourselves—a place of safety we cannot reach through our own strength. Like Peter walking on the water, we may become overwhelmed when we focus on the storm instead of Jesus. Yet Christ remains our strong tower and our hope, even when the waves continue to crash around us.

Highlights

• Why we don’t have to pretend that everything is okay when life feels overwhelming
• What Psalm 61 teaches us about crying out to God in the middle of a storm
• Why David describes God as the “rock that is higher” than himself
• How remembering God’s past faithfulness can strengthen our faith during new trials
• What Peter’s experience walking on water teaches us about keeping our eyes on Jesus
• How Jesus offers refuge when we simply cannot rescue ourselves
• Why God invites us to stop striving and trust Him with what is too big for us

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Full Transcript Below:

When You Can’t Pull Yourself Together

By Sarah Frazer

Bible Reading:
“... lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” - Psalm 61:2

No one likes to admit they can’t do something. In a world filled with social media, fake news, AI images, and doctored photos, who is really telling the truth about how hard life can be? Yes, we have this sense of transparency from some people online, but we know, deep down, we don’t have the full story. No one shows all of their cares or reveals all of their struggles, sorrow, and grief. Even if these people share their sorrow, there is little hope for us who suffer silently.

What if we can’t pull ourselves together? 

The place I have found to be completely honest, but also provide complete hope, is the Book of Psalms. In Psalm 61, we read an honest prayer, filled with heart-wrenching troubles, but it doesn’t end there. David, the author, gives us a path forward. As New Testament believers, we see the fulfillment of David’s hope in the life of Jesus. 

Psalm 61 was written by King David, who had his fair share of trouble. We don’t know the exact circumstances David faced with many of his psalms, but I think that is the point. We have this cry of David recorded in scripture for us to use in any of our situations. David describes his heartache in the second verse. He says his heart is “faint.” The word means to be overwhelmed or covered. The very core of David’s life, his heart, was deeply troubled. 

Maybe you woke up this morning tired, weary, and overwhelmed with the things going on in your life. We all face burdens too big, sorrows too deep, and heartache that goes beyond words. We think about the trials we are facing, and maybe they feel like waves of the ocean. David mentions a rock in the last part of verse 2, and this word is actually the word for cliff. 

In the image David is creating for us in Psalm 61, we might see this trouble, this trial, this overwhelmed feeling as being caught in a storm or shipwrecked. Imagine swimming in an ocean of grief, with the waves pounding down on you relentlessly. Life can feel like that. Maybe it is the same trial, or various trials all happening at once. A man who is shipwrecked is a hopeless man. If the waves are too high and the depths loom below, no matter how strong he swims, the shore is impossible to get to. 

There are some things we face that we cannot rescue ourselves out of, and this is the situation David describes here in Psalm 61. In the midst of his flood of emotions, David asks God to bring him to the rock that is higher than himself. It is a cliff, at the edge of an ocean. If you’ve seen pictures or videos, you know that the ocean is rarely calm beside those types of rocks. And we all know cliffs are not easily climbed. 

David recognizes that he cannot rescue himself. You and I must come to the point where we stop trying to deliver ourselves from the trial and cry out to God. Four times, David mentions crying out to God in Psalm 61. This crying out to God is prayer. He begs God for help. Not because he has waited and now prayer is the last resort, but he says this is too big, too hard. He says that his only hope is God. He does this because in Psalm 61:3 David says, “For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.” The waters were rising, but David looked up. He remembered what God had done and believed God could save him. 

You and I might be facing a storm so big that we wonder if God really can rescue us. Maybe the trial you are facing is the first of its kind. You haven’t needed God like this before. How can you look back and have confidence? Take David’s. Take mine. I have walked through many storms and through many valleys. Never once has God left or stopped working. 

God will be a refuge and a strong tower. God will lead you to the rock that is too far and too high for you to reach on your own. This rock is Jesus. Our hope, our defense, our strong tower. The disciples in Matthew 14:22-34 faced the literal waves of the sea. They were physically in a storm, about to die. Jesus comes out to them, walking on water. Peter asks to join Jesus and jumps out of the boat. Looking at Jesus, Peter begins to walk on water as well. 

The waves and the wind drive Peter’s gaze from Jesus to the storm. It is then that Peter begins to sink. Jesus reaches down and saves him. You and I will face storms too big, too powerful, and amazingly hard. When our eyes are focused on Jesus, we find the rock on which to cling. The waves might still crash and the storm rage, but we can find rest in Jesus. Let us even now reach out in our hearts and ask God to save us. 

Intersecting Faith & Life:

The storm might still be beating you down, but can you remember that you are safe in God’s hands? Jesus doesn’t ask you to pull yourself together. He invites you to come, cry out to Him, and know you will be held. How might you stop striving and be still before God? How does knowing He is with you in the storm and is more powerful than any waves comfort your heart? 

Further Reading:

Psalm 18:1-3

Isaiah 40:28-31

Matthew 11:28-30

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Hebrews 6:18-19